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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101911">Some things You don't Need to Ask</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow'>AloneShadow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>MacGyver (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Hurt Angus Macgyver (Macgyver 2016), Hurt No Comfort, Post- Season 4, Sad Ending, Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 04:35:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,268</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101911</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“You shouldn’t have come back.” </em>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948396</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Some things You don't Need to Ask</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Whumptober Prompts used: N° 19, Greif &amp; Survivor's Guilt</p>
<p>I wasn't sure to post this one, because 1, bad/sad endings always break my heart, and 2, it takes me days to recover from it... Still, it's whumptober, so take a deep breath, check the tags, and read this one-shot at your own risk while I go sit into a corner again.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mac was walking feeling like into a bubble. He couldn’t hear any sound, but he could smell smoke around himself, faintly. As he proceeded, one step at a time, he could feel the air getting colder. </p>
<p>He wasn’t sure about where he was going, but, apparently, his feet knew. He just had to keep moving. Always keep moving.</p>
<p>Heading towards a white door, he pushed it open with a hand: the bathroom was silent and empty. </p>
<p>Mac could feel his body stiff; his movement slow and uncertain. He moved in front of the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror: the cut on his forehead wasn’t bleeding anymore, but had left a red trail all over his cheek and down the neck, reaching the collar of his blue shirt; there was a bruise on his cheek, and dust over his messy, blonde hair. Passing a hand through it, he could feel some of them were slightly burned.</p>
<p>Taking a shattered breath in, he somehow managed to let it out as well. Removing his jacket, he froze: turning his hands, he found blood on the palms. Blood that was not his.</p>
<p>The fire, the screams, the anger… Everything hit him back like a punch in the stomach and he had to hold onto the sink to ground himself, eyes darting from one side to another. He didn’t know where to look. He didn’t know what to think or do. For the first time in ages, he stood still, mind suddenly blank. </p>
<p>“You should wash that off.” </p>
<p>He blinked and looked at the entrance: Jack was standing there, observing him with a calm, serious expression. Mac looked down at his own bloodied hands. </p>
<p>“Come on, you look like a mess…” the other said, moving closer.</p>
<p>“Don’t-” Mac growled and Jack stopped. “Don’t.” Mac repeated in a lower voice. </p>
<p>Jack sighed. “You’ll have to take a shower, eventually.” </p>
<p>“You shouldn’t be here.” </p>
<p>“Why not?” </p>
<p>“Because-“ Mac stopped, holding onto the sink again, with both hands. “Just leave me alone.” </p>
<p>“You know I can’t do that.” </p>
<p>“You can. You’ve done it before.” Mac said, angrily looking at him. “You left for two years. You can do it again.” </p>
<p>Jack held his gaze. “What if I don’t want to?” </p>
<p>“I’m asking you.” </p>
<p>“Are you?” Jack challenged him, taking another step closer. “You can kick me out of here if you want me to leave so badly.” </p>
<p>Mac looked down again, the grasp on the sink tightening. </p>
<p>“Do you want to know why are you feeling like this? Why are you so angry?” Jack asked him, “It's because you know that what you did back there was incredibly stupid.” </p>
<p>“It was the only way-“ </p>
<p>“It was the only way to get yourself killed.” </p>
<p>Mac almost flinched at that- at Jack’s angry voice. It was so rare to hear it directed at him… </p>
<p>“What were you thinking? What were you expecting would have happened?” Jack continued, sounding sad, now, rather than angry, “That I would have stayed back, watching you risk your life like that?” </p>
<p>“It was my choice.” </p>
<p>“Well, it was a hell of a stupid choice.” </p>
<p>“Why did you come back?!” Mac yelled at him. “Kovak is still alive. Wasn’t that your mission? Hunting him down?” </p>
<p>“You know you’re still the priority-” </p>
<p>“I stopped being a priority years ago! And you had no problem with that until the other day, when you suddenly decided to show up!” Mac continued, and Jack didn’t comment, staring silently at him. “You said that you needed to stop him, and then you just took off. That was <strong>your</strong> choice, so spare me the bullshit about your <em>priorities</em>.” </p>
<p>“Mac-“ </p>
<p>“Where were you when the Ghost attacked us? Where were you when my dad-” Mac stopped there, feeling his eyes burning. </p>
<p>Jack’s eyes were shining with tears as well, but he forced himself to keep his composure. “That’s why I’m here now.” </p>
<p>“Well, it’s too late!” Mac’s anger faded after that last scream, just as the bubble around himself. He looked away, the severity of what happened just a few hours before suddenly crashing on him. He staggered on his feet and had to hold into the sink again with a hand, moving to lean his back against the wall, trying to keep the panic under control. </p>
<p>“You should-“ </p>
<p>“Shut up.” Mac cut him off sitting on the cold floor, next to the sink, knees against the chest, moving the side of a shaky hand to cover his eyes. Breathing hard, he tried to pull the bubble back up around himself again, but there was no way… The more he tried, the more it hurt. </p>
<p>“You would be dead by now, if I didn’t come back.”</p>
<p>Mac kept down a sob, hearing Jack’s voice closer now, but he refused to look. </p>
<p>“Leaving was a mistake, I know, that’s on me, and coming back now was the least I could do to-“ </p>
<p>“You shouldn’t have come back.” </p>
<p>There was a moment of silence. Then, Jack asked, “Do you hate me so much?” </p>
<p>Mac slowly lowered his hand, staring at the blood on it. Taking a deep breath, he looked up, finding Jack down on one knee in front of him. “You shouldn’t have left us.” </p>
<p>“I know.” </p>
<p>“You shouldn’t have left me.” </p>
<p>Jack’s eyes were filled with tears as he nodded, voice getting lower, “I know.” </p>
<p>Mac kept staring at him. “Would you have stayed if I asked you?” </p>
<p>Jack took a deep breath but didn’t answer. </p>
<p>“I just needed to ask you… None of this would have happened if I just…” </p>
<p>“What have I told you before?” Jack stopped him, “The last thing I told you, in that basement, a while ago?” </p>
<p>Mac shook his head and looked down, his breathing jumping for a moment. </p>
<p>“I need you to say it, man, come on. You need to hear it too.” </p>
<p>Taking a deep, broken breath in, Mac said, “<em>I’m here for you…</em>” </p>
<p>“That is why I came back. That’s why I-” </p>
<p>“I didn’t ask for your help.” </p>
<p>“Yeah, you never do. I know that very well.” </p>
<p>It took Mac a few more deep breaths before being able to talk. “I wanted you to stay… You knew I wanted you to stay.” </p>
<p>Jack smiled sadly, “Maybe I didn’t know?” </p>
<p>Mac stared at him but found nothing to say. </p>
<p>“And I’m not saying that it’s your fault,” Jack continued, “I just… I realized I made a mistake, and I wanted to say that I am sorry. I really wanted to see you and the others again… Being on a mission on my own was so damn boring.”</p>
<p>They stared at each other for a moment, in silence. “You shouldn’t have come back,” Mac then said. “Not for me…” he whispered, looking down again. </p>
<p>“You know I wouldn’t have done this for anyone but you,” Jack said.</p>
<p>Mac felt his heart broke. “I never asked you to.” </p>
<p>Jack smiled a bit. “There are some things you don’t need to ask.” </p>
<p>“Mac?” </p>
<p>He blinked and looked at the door: Bozer was staring at him with eyes red of tears, sobbing as their eyes met. </p>
<p>Mac blinked a few times and looked around: Jack was gone. </p>
<p>As Bozer walked in and crouched next to him, Mac murmured, “He’s gone…” </p>
<p>Bozer started crying. “They tried everything to save him…” he managed to say, but then stopped and just hugged his friend. </p>
<p>Mac let him, still looking at the spot where Jack was sitting just a few seconds before. <em>You shouldn’t have come back for me,</em> Mac thought as he started crying in silence.</p>
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